House of Finn Juhl relaunches the Willadsen Series

With its unmissable exhibitions, eye-catching launches and must-see installations Salone del Mobile is always one of the most exciting weeks of the year, and while Italy’s second city may be jam-packed with brands from across the globe, it’s what the Nordic names are up to that interests me the most.

This year is no exception either, as it is in Milan that one of Danish design’s most legendary figures will be honoured, when House of Finn Juhl relaunch their Willadsen Series. Held at renowned design store MC Selvini, this showcase event pairs a number of Finn Juhl’s most iconic designs with his framed watercolours. Plus, lucky visitors also get to experience them for the first time sat alongside lighting from New York based Roll & Hill, contemporary furniture pieces from Onecollection and striking sculptures by ceramic artist, Per Ahlmann.

It was back in the mid-20th century that Finn Juhl developed a close partnership with furniture manufacturer Søren Willadsen, who at the time also produced armchairs, chairs and sofas for the likes of Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel, Illum Wikkelsø, and Kristian Vedel.

Working from his cabinetmaker’s workshop in Vejen, in 1950 he and Juhl collaborated on a sculptural two-seater sofa and lounge chair, known on the vintage market as the SW 50 Series, to present at the Danish Furniture Fair in Fredericia.

At the time only a limited number were produced, but the pieces have since become highly sought after by collectors, so 75 years later, and now renamed the ‘Willadsen Series’, to commemorate their friendship these striking pieces, made from FSC certified oak or American walnut, and upholstered by hand in Denmark are available to own once again.

Defined by a distinctive semi-oval gap between the seat and backrest, the Willadsen Series is without doubt a masterful example of Finn Juhl’s artistic and unorthodox approach to traditional furniture design, with their rounded silhouettes created to embrace all who rest upon them, while their slightly angled legs elevating and enhancing their overall weightless looking appearance.

Throughout his life, Finn Juhl was deeply inspired by art, so much so that Danish author Henrik Wivel, in his book dedicated to the designer compares Juhl’s experimental approach to one of Britain’s best-loved sculptors, “Like Henry Moore, Finn Juhl ‘punches holes’ in the solidity of the sofas, giving the furniture a vivid and autonomous presence in the room.”

And, it would seem even Søren Willadsen himself thought that the SW 50 series was groundbreaking, humorously commenting, “Had I, as a newly trained cabinetmaker in 1904, attempted to make furniture like the pieces architect Finn Juhl has now designed for our workshop, I would have been locked up.”

While many know Finn Juhl collaborated with cabinetmakers and manufacturers like Niels Vodder, Bovirke, and France & Son, his partnership with Søren Willadsen is less documented, but now thanks to the relaunch of this extraordinary series, this will no longer be the case.